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You’ve seen the post that projects significant growth in micro markets year after year! But as the competition increases finding just the right location can become difficult! Revamp your market thinking and find ways to locations that aren’t just the norm.

Smaller locations can be successful too! Three Square Market has had successful markets of 35 employees or less since 2013. And here is how we do it and why …

Why? Because there is limitless potential in businesses of 15 – 75 employees!

How? Small office, think small market! At 32M, we added the Tablet kiosk in 2014 and subsequent small kiosk models to improve on the small market opportunity. Most other kiosk providers have over the years adjusted to the small kiosk movement as well. Essentially, the smaller kiosk incurs a smaller start-up cost and has a smaller footprint.

Taking it to the next step … mobile apps! That’s right, you’ve heard us say it before but as the originator of the mobile app for micro markets, we think this is a BIG deal! A kiosk in every hand can only increase the number of transactions your market can handle at any point in time!

Making it work for you?

Find an appropriate location for your smaller markets, because these markets require your attention just like your larger markets. To be successful you need to be active in regularly servicing your small markets. We suggest that you look for small locations that surround your larger or existing markets.

As always, cleanliness and filled, faced products in your market is imperative in keeping your market desirable. Micro markets with low product selections or look messy tend to have a difficult time retaining and drawing in purchases. It is worth the investment in your product stock to keep your markets looking fully stocked and orderly.

Your product selection? As we know fresh food items are a key to success in micro markets and we aren’t saying you should immediately count these products out, but here are a few things you can consider if you feel like fresh items are not working at these locations.

Trendy products like protein bars and drinks, kefir, kombucha, high-end frozen products. Remember you want to make your market significantly different from what they would have had with vending machines.

Location subsidizing costs – although this option might not work for all locations it never hurts to see what locations are willing to do for their employees. Remember that employers are looking for low-cost ways to add high-value employee benefits.

Route management and pre-kitting, the more you are on top of your markets and very involved with products, product rotation, and expiration management with promotions to move products when necessary.

As a micro market operator, you know the best thing for your business is to grow your number of location. Sometimes that is easier said than done.

Here are some tips:

We know you’re looking for a qualified business that will make your service profitable. During your introductory phone call, you can gather some of the important details you need to zero in on your target locations, such as staff size, current vending or market situation, office coffee situation, etc.

Although the world is moving towards texting, messages, and email communication, by creating a personal relationship with your target location and making on-site visits you can build a rapport and trust with the business that will help you in your sales pitch. You should always seek to sell in person vs. over the phone.

Want to land the appointment? Ask engaging questions that will help you to understand what the client currently has, and what messages you can tailor to win the account.

During your initial call, you can ask these questions:

What is your current vending situation?

This will prompt your prospect to talk about how many machines they have and what’s in those machines.

Tell me about the kinds of items you have in your vending machines now?

If they are using traditional products at this time, this gives you a great conversation starter about the wide variety of foods and products that can be incorporated into a micro market. Think “Fresh Food, higher quality products all at no cost to the company.”

Do you have employees that work late or overnight shifts?

Off-shift workers are extremely limited in their food options and will benefit immensely from the update to quality, fresh, & meal options of a micro market.

Do you have a calendar in front of you?

This is a great way to almost guarantee an appointment to talk about the benefits of a micro market in person.

Micro market benefits to talk about:

Self-checkout that allows employees to pick up and look at products prior to purchase.

Easy to use, more attractive than vending, lower energy footprint, and often fits in the existing vending space.

If you are reading this you know that the benefits of micro markets are becoming well-known and ever-expanding within our industry. You can increase your chances of successfully landing an account by being the first in the door with your market solution.

What are you waiting for?

We got a lot of this great information from MarketReach! Check out their article here to learn more: http://bit.ly/1aQdOnd

10 Reasons Why a Micro Market is Better than a Cafeteria

1. It’s Employee Paid. Offering food and drinks to employees is a powerful benefit for companies looking to attract and retain good quality workers. However, food budgets can be hard to prove return on investment for in some areas. The retiring of the foodservice decision maker or an uncertain corporate climate can affect cafeterias, cafes and pantry service. The new person or board might feel the money would be better spent elsewhere. Conversely, because the capital outlay by the location for a micro market is zero, it is less affected by budgets and executives.

2. It’s Grab and Go. At work, people are searching for quick, convenient eating options. There is more snacking and fewer sit down meals during a workday, which means micro markets are a great option. The service is 24-7, giving everyone the flexibility to snack when they need an energy boost and everything is prepackaged for easy shopping of ingredients.

3. It’s Fewer Upfront Costs. Cafeterias require a number of additional upfront costs including grills, washing stations, food temperature logs, walk-in coolers, etc. Micro markets are much simpler, with a comparatively low upfront equipment cost. A micro market needs a few coolers, shelving, a kiosk and internet connection. Any add-ons can be discussed with the location and purchased by them to add that positive employee experience they want to create in the space.

4. It Allows Bulk Buying. Since micro markets use so many prepackaged products that can be used in vending and other markets, it increases the volume of items operators order, allowing them to get better pricing from the suppliers. A great purchasing manager can also work to take advantage of special offers and rebates. This can enable micro market operators to tie in better-priced products to on-site promotions that will drive sales at each location.

5. It Offers Cost Balance. While fresh food is a key component of both cafeterias and micro markets, cafeterias rely more heavily on their food offerings. Food means waste and a smaller margin. Micro markets, on the other hand, allow operators to provide a good mix of food options and shelf-stable products, such as bagged breakfast items and treats. Micro markets can even include non-edibles options that employees crave, such as small electronics or smartphone chargers.

6. It Serves A Wider Range Of Locations. Unlike cafeterias that require a few hundred employees on site, a micro market can be successful with between 100 to 200. It’s a much more flexible option with what type of checkout is available, including full, freestanding kiosks to small, tablet-based checkout that can be placed on a counter next to a small shelf and cooler combo. Micro markets also work in a broad range of businesses from manufacturing to offices.

7. It Requires No Additional Staff Onsite. Having a cafeteria means having staff on site. From cooks to cashiers, it’s more people to hire, train and manage. Comparatively, a micro market requires a route driver and support staff, people who are already on the payroll at an operation. There is no staff required to keep it open, yet a micro market offers more hours of operation to the employees making it a worthwhile benefit.

8. It Includes Supported Marketing Efforts.Consumers love getting a deal, especially when it’s a product they enjoy eating. With new features being added by micro market suppliers, promotions, special pricing, and loyalty programs are easier than ever to schedule. Many micro markets have built-in programs operators can simply turn on and off. Others have special relationships with suppliers for great partnerships. Either way, micro markets make marketing easier and more engaging with customer-focused apps and interactive touchscreens.

9. It Means No Waiting In Line. Everything is made ahead of time and prepackaged, eliminating lines of people waiting to order or for their items to be cooked. Micro market customers can just browse the selections and make a purchase. Many even offer mobile checkout apps to eliminate

the queue at the kiosk. It also encourages repeat business during the day. After all, it’s much more inviting to purchase a pack of gum in the afternoon if you know it will be a quick checkout than waiting in line for the cashier to ring up other employees.

10. It Requires A Smaller Footprint. Unlike cafes and cafeterias that need food prep and storage areas, micro markets are all about product display and sales. The configuration, number of coolers, kiosk placement, type of shelving and even how the equipment is powered is flexible. It’s a solution that adapts to locations large or small much more easily than a foodservice solution. It’s scalable as well – a solution that can grow with a company.

Kudos Automatic Merchandiser and VendingMarketWatch.com, we agree! Micro markets have a lot of great components that cafeterias alone don’t have!

New to micro markets? Have you been incorporating them for years? Micro markets have been growing steadily for years and gaining in popularity. Markets offer operators the ability to increase their revenues by 4x’s their previous vending earnings. For extremely diligent operators we’ve seen as much as 10x’s their previous revenues and here is how:

1. Give the customers what they want!

Micro markets are meant to be fresh! And we don’t mean just fresh food options, although those are an important part! Fresh … micro markets need to be changed, adjusted, updated and renewed all the time!

Use Three Square Market’s intelligent inventory management to know when products have come to the end of their lifecycle and it’s time to move in new, exciting products!

2. Promotional Sales and Loyalty

Promotions, loyalty, rewards, coupons! There is a reason mega stores like Targets and Walmarts introduce programs to increase their customer’s involvement with their stores … it’s because it creates the relationship between a person and your business! In a social media heavy world – customers what to feel connected to your store!

Using Three Square Market’s loyalty/rewards/coupon system will develop personal relationships with your clients and which will encourage them to become a loyal customer of your market!

3. Using the system to its MAX.

Like anything, the best things in this world take some work. We want you to be successful so we’ve developed the 32M University. We strongly suggest that no matter where you are in your micro market world that you take our 32M University course to ensure that you know the in’s and out’s of the system.

There are SO many amazing features within our system and we want you to USE them! Build your success by building your knowledge! Talk to your salesperson or our customer service staff today to learn more!!!

Half-full? Half-empty? These options will help your cup ‘runneth over’!

There are a lot of options on the market for micro market operators, and it’s easy to pick based on just one piece of information … BUT don’t get trapped by picking the lowest cost or the highest retail price point! Just because something is the lowest price often times doesn’t mean it’s the best value. Let’s take a look!

Your standard cup brewer (Any single-serve machine)The positives: low-cost investment, low maintenance, popular products.The negatives: This brewer is the same as many household single-serve brewers. Low originality can lose you a large percentage of sales, short life-span, a high cost of product = low-profit margins.Where do we recommend?: We recommend using these machines as a trial coffee solution or in very small office settings.

The medium level coffee brewer (Our favorite is Newco)The positives: medium-cost investment, very low cost of products, high-quality output, and the highest profit margins. The negatives: increased maintenance and the cost of entry can be daunting for a first timer.Where do we recommend using it?: We recommend using these in medium to large markets, and even small markets with high coffee consumption. These are the top-rated employer-paid OCS solution coffee makers as chosen by your peers! Overall, this is a great machine for any market setting!

The high-level coffee brewer (We use Bravilor Bonamat, straight from our European operators to you!)The positive: Quality, quality quality.The negatives: High cost of entry, involved maintenance.Where do we recommend using it?: We recommend this option anywhere you have discerning coffee drinkers. It’s great for both medium and large markets and can definitely keep up with volume output. You can schedule maintenance alerts and the machine does a lot of the work for you. This coffee maker has top-notch quality coffee and specialty coffee products. If you’re competing with local coffee houses, this is the way to go! You can price your products under the expensive chains but still, make a great profit margin!

Bottom-line: There are a lot of great options and any one of them might be right for you. Make sure you think about your clients, your locations, your business owner, the long-term, and your schedule before you make the choice that is right for you. AND if you need help … we’re here for you!

Need to know more?Want to chat with our staff? Want to get started right away?

We see you, Operator! Look at you go all successful and on the rise, making us proud!

But as great as you’re doing, we’re going to help you get to that next level … with bundling! Let’s dig in …

What’s this “bundling” we keep talking about??

We took our top-sellers, strategically created combinations to drive sales in a variety of market spaces, and packaged, or bundled, them together! It’s our one-stop-shop method going one step further. Instead of navigating our website for the items you want, find them all in one place and purchase an entire market in one click!

•The Mammoth Bundle•

Why Bundle?

Bundle for the 4 Bs …

1) Bundling = Benefiting

Bundling is convenient, provides economies of scale, is built for success, and is adaptable.

•Economies of Scale• Save money! Bundling saves us money by reducing waste and using fewer materials for packaging. Then we pass our savings along to you by offering a super low price! Get a complete, high-value market at a significantly reduced price.

•Success• We’ve done the thinking for you … We bundled the combinations of products that will best set you up for a successful market. There are bundles made perfect for all market sizes!

•Adaptability• Looking for something in between bundles? Start with a bundle and add individual products as necessary. That way, you’re still saving time and money while also ensuring you get the perfect market for your location.

2) Bundling = Bold

Have confidence! You’re offering the very best markets to your clients – that’s what our bundles are for!

3) Bundling = Balancing

Build a thriving market in one click & still have time to build a thriving personal life. Just think – Instead of taking time to navigate through the web store and decide which combination of products is going to work, you can spend under 5 minutes choosing which complete, packaged market fits best! Use the time you save for YOU.

4) Bundling = Brilliantly unfair

Turn every potential client into a loyal client when you show them what a boss you are … because you spent your time focusing on impressing them while we took care of the market design for you! That’s an awesomely unfair advantage!